Strategic Planning: Identifying the Priorities

- Amber Gregg is the Manager for the Quesnel & District Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at qchamber@quesnelbc.com.

QUESNEL - The Quesnel Chamber Board and Staff met on Thursday, February 16, 2017 for their annual strategic planning session. After a brief overview of how the organization functions, who its members are, and the goals and achievements of 2016, the group began to discuss the direction for the coming year.

Participants reviewed the current organizational structure to identify what the Chamber does well, which programs and services add value to the membership, what could be improved on, and how the team can work together to achieve the overall goal of supporting the business community in Quesnel and promoting a strong economic environment.

In 2016 the Chamber accomplished many of its objectives including:

Submitting a policy to the BC Chamber to improve the housing market;

Signing a five-year agreement with the City of Quesnel to operate the Visitor Centre;

Hosting the 2nd Annual Home & Outdoor Adventure Show; and

Further developing our Policy and Advocacy program

Chamber Manager Amber Gregg shares her thoughts on why it is important to look back. “The Board of Directors are a group of volunteers. They all run businesses of their own and are not in the office every day.

“Because their time is valuable, they each contribute to different areas of the organization for specific programs and events. It is important that they review all of the goals that were set for the previous year so that they can see the overall productivity of the Chamber.”

Looking forward, the Board and staff identified four areas they would most like to focus on in the coming year. Membership and services, policy and advocacy, communication, and operations encompass the general priorities. Under each of these categories, more specific goals were acknowledged and detailed initiatives were discussed.

Three main areas where the group felt they could increase effort were marketing, strengthening the current networking events, and to establish regular meetings with our municipal, provincial and federal government representatives.

If you are interested in becoming a member or joining the Board of Directors or one of its many committees, or if you are a business who is facing challenges and you feel the Chamber can help, don’t hesitate to contact the Chamber office.